Announcing the Inaugural Africa Climate Beacon Newsrooms

We are excited to welcome the six newsrooms selected for SJN's first Africa Climate Beacon Newsroom cohort. Selected from 133 strong applications received by our co-implementing partner, Media for Environment, Science, Health and Environment (MESHA), the selected newsrooms will participate in a seven-month climate solutions journalism program from September 2026 to March 2027.

The selected newsrooms are Social Voices in Nigeria; Media Challenge Initiative in Uganda; The Star Publications Limited in Kenya; Water Journalists Africa in Uganda; Habitat Media in Tanzania; and Zodiak Broadcasting Station in Malawi. The cohort represents diverse media platforms, underscoring the initiative's commitment to advancing climate solutions journalism across radio, TV, digital, print and emerging media platforms.

The cohort will receive solutions journalism training; coaching from experienced solutions and climate journalism experts; and workshops covering audience/community engagement and impact tracking — all designed to strengthen their climate solutions storytelling. Solutions Journalism Network and MESHA will also provide the participating newsrooms monthly coaching sessions to develop their work plans and transform their approach to entrench the practice across the newsroom. To support them in doing that, each newsroom will receive a story grant of USD 8000 to support them in reporting adaptive responses to climate change in their communities.

Aghan Daniel, the CEO of MESHA, had this to say upon the announcement: “Climate change is not only a story about what is going wrong; it is also a story about what is being done, what is working, and what can be learned. By equipping journalists with the skills, knowledge and networks to investigate credible climate solutions, we can strengthen public understanding, inspire action and ensure that communities across the region see themselves not only as those affected by climate change, but also as part of the solution.”